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Official 2013-2014 College Hoops Thread


Brian

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Had an opportunity to do a 1-on-1 with Groce today at Big Ten Media Day. Guy just oozes passion and it really looks like players enjoy playing for him. Bertrand, Egwu and Abrams were all there as well.

 

He said the biggest surprise from year one as head coach was simply how much more time he had to commit to the program. From media requests to overall attention to the program, it was a huge step up from Ohio. Second biggest surprise was the strength of the conference and how even in conference play, you might have 4 or 5 straight games against top 25 teams.

 

Obviously he was very high of the Big Ten conference, lauding the depth from top to bottom and mentioning how even teams in the bottom half are so talented and have really good players, and a lot of teams have a lot of good players returning. He's excited to add Rutgers and Maryland to the conference next season.

 

He hates when people ask about him bringing in "his guys" and how he apparently inherited another coach's team but he was very adamant in saying that last year's team was "his guys" and how much he loved them and thanked them for the hard work.

 

As for this season, he's really expecting a lot out of Abrams and Egwu, specifically in leadership roles, but more so to be more consistent and share the experience with the young guys. When asked about the loss to Miami, he said it motivates him and the returning players. "Guys tasted some Filet Mignon and got a couple bites, now you want more of that." He understands that it is expected of Illinois to compete and make the tournament every year.

 

In regards to recruiting, he basically insinuated that Illinois sells itself. Specifically mentioned the Forbes ranking as one of the top schools, as well as the sell-out crowds, the arena and the renovations, the facilities/upgrades, the Big Ten conference and most importantly, the people he has around him.

 

Absolute pleasure to talk to.

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QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Oct 31, 2013 -> 02:07 PM)
Had an opportunity to do a 1-on-1 with Groce today at Big Ten Media Day. Guy just oozes passion and it really looks like players enjoy playing for him. Bertrand, Egwu and Abrams were all there as well.

 

He said the biggest surprise from year one as head coach was simply how much more time he had to commit to the program. From media requests to overall attention to the program, it was a huge step up from Ohio. Second biggest surprise was the strength of the conference and how even in conference play, you might have 4 or 5 straight games against top 25 teams.

 

Obviously he was very high of the Big Ten conference, lauding the depth from top to bottom and mentioning how even teams in the bottom half are so talented and have really good players, and a lot of teams have a lot of good players returning. He's excited to add Rutgers and Maryland to the conference next season.

 

He hates when people ask about him bringing in "his guys" and how he apparently inherited another coach's team but he was very adamant in saying that last year's team was "his guys" and how much he loved them and thanked them for the hard work.

 

As for this season, he's really expecting a lot out of Abrams and Egwu, specifically in leadership roles, but more so to be more consistent and share the experience with the young guys. When asked about the loss to Miami, he said it motivates him and the returning players. "Guys tasted some Filet Mignon and got a couple bites, now you want more of that." He understands that it is expected of Illinois to compete and make the tournament every year.

 

In regards to recruiting, he basically insinuated that Illinois sells itself. Specifically mentioned the Forbes ranking as one of the top schools, as well as the sell-out crows, the arena and the renovations, the facilities/upgrafdes, the Big Ten conference and most importantly, the people he has around him.

 

Absolutely pleasure to talk to.

 

You didn't turn off the recorder and ask about Cliff?!

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QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 7, 2013 -> 07:04 AM)
Kevin Ware played 10 minutes last night. Scored 6 points.

 

Good for him. It turns out the sight of the injury was much worse than the actual damage. At the time people were saying he was better off than had he torn his ACL or something similar, he would still be out.

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Good for him. It turns out the sight of the injury was much worse than the actual damage. At the time people were saying he was better off than had he torn his ACL or something similar, he would still be out.

 

Yeah, broken bones look a lot worse, but heal much, much faster than tendon/muscle tears.

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